


No Pit Stops

by Meowsapow



Category: Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Enemies to Friends, Eventual Romance, Gen, What-If
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:13:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25515571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meowsapow/pseuds/Meowsapow
Summary: The Courier's between a rock and a hard place at the end of Benny's weapon in the Goodsprings Cemetary. But what if instead of shooting, he's convinced to bring them into his plans? Bringing a wildcard like that has it's benefits, sure. But is their meddling nature worth the risk?
Relationships: Benny/Courier
Comments: 3
Kudos: 4





	1. A Bargain

"Stop. Stop monologing." 

Benny was taken aback by these words. The barrel of his gun was pointed at this Courier, who had the audacity to snap at him. He scowled, and pointed the gun closer to their skull.

"What'd you just say to me?"

"Oh sorry," they reply nonchalantly. "I'm just getting tired of all the small talk. If you're gonna shoot me then shoot m-"

He adjusted his aim and fired the gun next to their head. Ears ringing, they spit at his feet.

"Like that does much. Like I said. Shoot me. Go ahead, if it's for a good cause then my death will be just. But you got a long way to go to the Strip. And I doubt these two fools will be able to get you there."

Benny looks at the Khans next to him. They were right, he'd end up just dumping them somewhere anyways. He sighs, lowering his gun. He lights a smoke instead. "What're you suggesting, I let you go? You be my guide? As soon as I take off those restraints you'll be at my throat like a dog, pussycat."

They stop to consider for a moment. "Then were speaking caps, then. Can't kill you if payment is on the line."

He raises a brow. "Listen, I got two other cats to feed, ya dig? I can't add another to the payroll."

They merely scoff. "Listen, its my JOB to deliver shit. I doubt they have as much experience as I do in delivering things. Handling packages. The whole nine yards."

Fuck. They were making a lot of sense. And letting them go would mean one less ghost to haunt him at night.

"Untie them."

"Wh, what? You're seriously not considerin-"

"I said untie them Jessup! I'm calling the shots here, not you."

The Khans cut the Courier's restraints. Benny watches as they give a greatful nod and rub their wrists. Tenderly they stumble to their feet.

"Where's my stuff?" 

Benny rolled his eyes. "Fat chance I'm giving you a weapon. You got your bag of clothes, but we made sure to strip anything too dangerous."

Jessup throws their bag at their feet. The Courier sighs, and picks it up. "So a death sentence. Got it. Do y'all got my explosives at least? My grenade launcher? That thing was expensive."

Jessup and McMurphy snicker, and Benny holds a hand out. "Sold it. Conside it collateral for your joining us, pussycat. After all, we need to eat."

They merely just sigh. They seem docile, not showing a hint of anger at this. They merely grab their bag and throw it over their shoulder.

"Aight then, lets camp it out here tonight then."

Nobody disagrees, and they set up camp under the stars.

...

The next morning, Jessup and McMurphy are sent to the general store to buy provisions while Benny and The Courier sit in the saloon. Its early morning, and the bartender is just setting up when a man storms in. Benny places a hand on Maria, knowing trouble when he sees it. The Courier is too busy fixing a radio to notice.

The man scowls upon seeing them but instead addresses the bartender: "Listen, I'm done being nice. If you don't hand Ringo over soon, I'm going to get my friends and we're burning this town to the ground, got it?"

The bartender scoffs. "We'll keep that in mind. Now, if you're not going to buy something, get out."

He spits on the floor at her feet and turns his heel to exit. But the Courier reaches out a hand and places it on his shoulder. He freezes, and looks at them in disgust.

"What in the hell do you think yo-"

"Listen. You touch this town and you'll have hell to pay for it."

The energy coming from them was immense. Joe Cobb stopped to consider for a moment, before shoving the hand off his shoulder.

"Keep you and your prissy dog's hands off my business." He mutters, then leaves.

Prissy Dog?

"What in the goddamn do you think you're doing?" Benny hisses at the Courier. They shrug.

"Fixin a radio." They say, screwing the back cover on. They press the on button. The sounds of Big Iron begin to ironically play, and the bartender clasps her hands together in joy.

"Oh, so you fixed it! Thank you! Thank you..." She begins to rummage through her pockets, and pulls out a small bag of caps.

"It's not much, but I'm sure you'll find this more useful than any thanks."

Benny watches as thr Courier gratefully takes the bag of caps. He tries to wrap his head around the situation as they ask the bartender: "So, what's the story with this Ringo fella?"

The bartender sighs. "Well, he came through lookin to lay low for a few days, hidin' from some powder gangers. Some sorta trader with the Crimson Caravan. Well, now they're out for blood."

The courier nods. "Well, we'll see about that. Where is he?"

The bartender bit her lip, and glanced over at Benny with a look of distrust. Then back at the Courier. "Well, hes up by the old gas station, near the Doc's house."

"Thanks. Hey Shooty, lets get goin'."

The Courier hopped off their seat and left the Saloon. Benny scrambled after them, catching them at the front door.

"Listen. For one doll, it's Benny, not Shooty, and definitely not a-"

"A Prissy Dog?" They smile. He turns red.

"Hey, I'm not with you, you're with me. And we are not getting involved in this shit! We gotta get to Vegas through the long way no time for pit stops ya dig?"

They mhm as Jessup and McMurphy approach, empty handed. Benny turns to them, and his face turns a new shade of red that the Mojave had never sene before.

"McMurphy? Jessup?"

"Yes Benny?" They reply.

"Where's the supplies?"

"Uh. Heh. Well, thats a funny story. You see-"

Benny pinches the bridge of his nose. "No. Not funny. What in the goddamn happened to the fucking stuff!!! The caps!!!"

"We were held at gunpoint by some gangers on the edge of town. They took everything."

Benny's hands drop in realization. Everything. "You. Idiots. The package! The goddamn chip!"

The Courier looked smug as Benny turned to them, fuming. "Where did that gal say Ringo was?"

"Trudy, her name's Trudy Benny. Come on, Ill lead you to him. McMurphy, Jessup? You... you just stay here." Benny felt more than a bit ticked that they gave orders to his men, but he was too worked up to say much. He followed The Courier up the hill, to the man who would be able to help them get their stuff back.


	2. Ghost Town Gunfight

The gas station up on the hill was decrepit, to say the least. Boarded up windows, cracked pavement, and a sunken roof to compelete the look. Benny was hesitant to enter, but the Courier confidently marched onwards thrusting open the door.

"Stop, or I'll shoot!"

Ringo looked exhausted. He stood there holding a gun in the Courier's face. They faced it, motionless for the second time in the last twenty four hours. They seemed much too calm about the whole ordeal.

"Trust me, I tried that. It didn't work." Benny offers to Ringo, who hesitantly lowers his gun. The Courier offers their hand.

"Heard you needed some powder gangers killed. Well, so do we. Mind helpin us out?"

Ringo suspiciously good their hand and shook it. The Courier smiled, and gestured to Benny. "This is my associate, Benny. And I'm Six. Nice too meet you."

Six? What a weird fucking name. 

"They work for me." Benny announces, pushing past the Courier and into the gas station. "Now, what can you tell us about those schmucks?"

Ringo sighed and invited them in, stating that "you couldn't be too careful out in the open." Benny agreed with that, seeing how Jessup and McMurphy got stuck up in the middle of the day. Poor bastards. He had calmed down now enough to empathize, but he was still gonna dump em later on.

By the time Benny tunes back into the conversation, Six is asking: "So theres six of em?" Ringo nods solemnly in return.

"So unless you're hidin a gang of your own-"

"Four of us, five plus you. I'm sure we can take em." Benny replies nonchalantly. Ringo raises a brow, obviously impressed. 

"Now all we have to do is find e-"

CRACK.

A gunshot echos through the doorway, followed by a series of others. Benny can hear McMurphy and Jessup yelling, and them returning fire. After a brief exchange of looks, Benny and Ringo join the fray. 

Six Powder Gangers, including Joe Cobb, are approaching the gas station with guns drawn. Jessup and McMurphy are hiding behind the pillars of the gas pump, while Benny and Ringo are in the doorway. Its been a while since Benny had been in a shootout, but he's far from rusty. He aims at one to the left, hitting him in the chest. He falls. 

Its bloody, and the Gangers approach closer. Until the Courier rushes out. One hit. Thats all it takes from a wooden board to down Joe Cobb. He stumbles, and is shot. The others are shocked as the Courier rushes the next. THWACK. Another hit. As Six draws the attention, Benny curls around the corner, taking out two more.

The last one tries to flee. He is taken down as well by a Courier armed with nothing but a wooden board.

"Jessup, McMurphy, Six! Search em!" Benny barked, thorughly anxious after the battle. What if they stashed it somewhere? What if it wasn't on them? What if they pawned it off? What i-"

"Found it!" Six yells, holding it up in the air. Benny strides over to them. They're smiling, but it quickly vanish as its snached roughly from their hands. Benny tucks it into his inner jacket pocket, where it will be kept safe from now on.

  
"...Good job with the board." He eventually mutters. He turns away to Ringo, who looks relieved. 

"You did it... I can't believe you did it!" He smiles, looking happy for the first time since meeting. The bags under his eyes seemed lifted as he gratefully took Benny's hand and shook it. Benny was filled with a certain... pride for doing such a good dead. It went straight to his ego as he gave himself a mental pat on the back.

"Whelp, all's well that ends well." The Courier replied, this time physically patting him on the back. "Should we get going?"

...

  
The sun began to set by the time they got to the edge of town. There were campfires that remained unlit there, and a trailer with a bed. They decided to camp there for a night. They unrolled their bedrolls, while Benny took the bed. 

Benny could hear Jessup and McMurphy arguing over the unlit campfire, until the soft voice of the Courier spoke up.

"Here, I can light it. Give me some sticks."

There was quiet as Benny peeked out of the trailer. The Courier was rubbing them together, untila spark unfolded. The Khans seemed impressed. 

"Where did you learn that? Are you from a tribe or something?"

They smiled good naturedly. "No, no. Nothing like that. It's just being on the road so often, you gotta learn to survive. Make friends. The whole nine yards. I don't know what its like in Vegas, but out in the wilds is my home."

Jessup scoffed. "Don't lump us in with those Vegas boys. We're Khans, through and through." 

The Courier nodded. "So both of you are Khans. What's Benny's deal then. He's a Vegas boy?"

Benny watches as McMurphy shakes his head. "He might be Vegas, but before that there were three tribes. Those tribes got absorbed into Vegas, becoming the families of the Strip."

Benny ducks as the Courier looks over at the trailer, and he can hear them say in a wondering voice: "Huh. I wonder if he misses the Mojave."

Truth was, Benny didn't. He considered himself a Vegas man, resenting the tribal past his family had. That's why he kept the Chairmen in line, so they didn't break apart and become part of the Mojave again. They were his family. And he wanted to keep it that way.

Frustrated about the whole ordeal, he lay down in the bed. Staring at the ceiling, the sounds of the Courier's soft spoken questions drifted him off to sleep, to dreams filled with empty graves and wooden boards.


	3. A Change in Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Apparently it is NOT a good idea to piss off the NCR.

It was early dawn, and the sun was just beginning to rise over the Mojave. The Khans and Six were already beginning to pack their things when Benny exited the trailer. Six smiled at him.

"Mornin' sunshine!" They teased. Benny fixed his tie and grumbled a "good morning" back. He had no idea how they could be this cheery in the morning. His Vegas nights blurred into Vegas days inside the Casino, and his sleep schedule was out of whack. He wasn't used to this blinding sun, or the dusty wind or the-

"Gah! What in the goddamn?!"

A giant radroach was crawling furiously up the road towards the group. Jessup raised a gun and after a few shots, it was down.

"What, never seen a roach before?" Six asked curiously. Benny scowls. "Of course I have, that thing just fuckin came ou of nowhere!"

The Khans began to laugh as he shot a glare at them. "Knock it off, or I'm cutting your pay."

They continued south along the I-15, until a large town came into view. A massive rollercoaster was there, marking it as the town of Primm. But somehing was different: there was a camp across the highway from the town. The New California Republic flag fluttered in the breeze above it. Both Jessup and McMurphy handled their guns anxiously. Benny noticed Six scowl at the sight of them, but otherwise did nothing.

"Cool your jets boys." Benny urged, as they were approached by an NCR soldier. 

The Courier brushed past the three of them. Benny went to open his mouth, but they spoke before he could say anything.

"What's goin on here?"

The NCR soilder raised a brow at them, and lit a smoke with an expensive looking lighter. "You didn't hear? Primm's closed to the outside. Escaped convicts took over the whole town, while the townsfolk are held up inside."

The Courier looked back at Benny, before stating: "Thanks for the heads up, but I think we'll be fine." 

The NCR solder simply shrugged, and muttered, "don't say I didn't warn you..." Before returning to his post.

"So... escaped convicts." They repeat, and Benny holds up his hands. 

"No, no way. We aren't taking another detour. Not a chance in Hell!" He declares. McMurphy and Jessup exchange glances, but say nothing. They give the two space while they argue, making their way a bit further down the road.

"Hey, I'm not saying we should conquer them or anything, but look at the good we did up in Goodsprings! Wasn't it a good feeling?"

Benny scoffs. Maybe so, but he wasn't about to throw his plans off track. "Listen, the NCR's all up in this joint anyways. What are we gonna do? Besides, what do you care anyways?"

The Courier opened their mouth to answer, but was cut short by a loud, angry "Like FUCK you will!" from the NCR solider. Benny whipped around as he pulled out a gun at the Khans, who were only few feet away with their own drawn guns.

"Shit..." Six cursed, making to walk over. But more soilders appeared at the sight of drawn weapons, and directed them at Six and Benny as well. He raised his hands, and Six did the same.

They were directed to a tent in the back, where Jessup and McMurphy were bound, not unlike what had happed to the Courier days previously. Benny struggled as the NCR soilders went to place ropes around his wrists too, when Six interrupted.

"Wait, you're binding us? Can we get an explanation why?"

The soilders scowled and said nothing, but a voice echoed from across the tent.

"Your men were threatening my soilders, berating them and being aggressive."

Jessup and McMurphy begain to contest, but Six interrupted.

"So you bind and gag civilians? An unarmed Courier?"

The man stops to consider this for a moment. "A Courier? What's your name?"

"Six. I'm with the Mojave Express. Might I ask who's deciding our fate here?"

"Lieutenant Hayes, 5th battalion, 1st company."

Benny had to give it to the Courier, their docile nature had gotten them this far, and their conversational skills even further. But even still, he felt it was their fault that they had stopped in the first place, allowing them to come into conflict with the NCR. 

"Say..." Benny said. "My boys didn't mean nothin'by it, they're just sore, that's all." He said, shooting a glare at the two of em."So, how much to get us out of this bind, and far from this joint?"

Benny was always willing to strike a bargain, but Hayes wasn't having any of it.

"I'm afraid that after judging what has happened, your 'boys' won't be making it out of here any time soon. Not for caps, at least."

"And you're not in a place to take prisoners, right?" Six asked. Benny felt pale at this, not taking prisoners? That meant...

"We'll what if you were? See, my friend and I are pretty decent shots. Disposable, and reliable. Our friends here can stay to ensure we get the job done. We can clear out the convicts for ya'."

Benny felt his gut drop. What the Courier was volunteering them both for was a suicide run. For what? A couple shmucks he was going to dump anyways. This wild card was finally showing itself... and not in a good way.

But Hayes seemed to be considering this. "You, and the guy in the suit? You're not even armed. Huh..."

Benny crossed his fingers.

"Sure, why not. We don't have the resources to exactly, keep them. But we can hold on to them for a few days before being 'processed'".

Benny didn't like the sound of being processed. He wasn't an idiot. With so few resources and a makeshift camp, they couldn't afford to take prisoners. 

The soliders stepped back, allowing Benny and Six to make their way out of the tent. The Courier seemed a bit grim, and as soon as they were out of earshot they picked up a broken pipe on the ground. They weighed it in their hands and sighed.

"You... have a plan, right pussycat? I know so far you've just been jing-jangling along. But please tell me you're not just crazy."

The Courier looked at him in the eyes. "There's townspeople, right?" They asked him, pointing across the bridge. 

"We rally them up, help 'em take fate into their own hands."

Benny was hopeful at this. He'd much rather leave the Khans and Six behind, but travelling through the Mojave alone was a risk he couldn't afford.

Or maybe it was. They were walking into a town of convicts, armed with a gun and a pipe, uncertain of the state of things. They got to the bridge. It was armed with land mines. Six, nimble as ever disarmed them surprisingly quick, and scooped them up in their arms.

"What in the goddamn do you think you're doing?"

"It's insurance," they explain. "Not always gonna have this pipe. Also in case you think of shootjn me in the back. Can't shoot if you're gonna blow us both sky high!" They wink. Benny raised a brow at this. So they weren't as naive as he thought. That cheery, helpful facade hid a person who was well aware of the risks. It was... oddly comforting to know that.

That's when Six stopped. There was a convict patrolling the open street, carrying a gun. They crouched down, moving closer. Their usual expression was unreadable, as they got closer with their pipe. 

CRUNCH. Broken glass crackled beneath their feet as the convict whipped around. It seems sneaking wasn't their forte as much as hitting stuff, rushing the convict with the pipe. They barely had time to raise their gun as Six hit them over the head with a solid THWACK. It broke. They clutched their head as Benny raised his gun, and dispatched them with a singular shot.

"Thanks," they called out gratefully. Then a cry rang out, and the shooting began feom above. The rollercoaster. Six ran under cover of a building labelled the Vikki and Vance casino, busting through the door, and Benny followed close behind his wild card.

"Hey! Wha-"

A casino of townsfolk staggered to a halt upon their arrival. Apparently, the wild card pulled through.


End file.
